1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for executing duplex printing of a plurality of images on a continuous sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
A continuous sheet for printing may include a unique portion which is region composed of a part of the sheet whose characteristic differs from the rest of the sheet, the unique portions unintentionally created in the sheet manufacturing process. If the image is printed on such the region in which unique portion exists, the image cannot be obtained as a good product.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-240493 discloses a method for executing duplex printing on a continuous sheet including unique regions inappropriate for printing, wherein the printing is executed while avoiding the unique regions on the obverse surface and the reverse surface of a sheet in consideration of the unique regions on both the surfaces of the sheet. In this method, when the unique portion on the continuous sheet is detected during the printing on the first surface, a unavailable region is set in the print schedule for a first surface, and a unavailable region at the position corresponding to the unique portion on the first surface is also set in a second surface print schedule, thereby continuing the printing.
The apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-240493 is not one in which an optimization is done to the extent of a schedule of maintenance (head maintenance) for a preliminary ejection 3 and the like, which is necessary for ink jet printing, so that it is susceptible to improvement.